DID GODs LAW AUTHORIZE REVENGE? The words eye for eye, tooth for tooth, found in the Bible, have caused no little contention. (Exodus 21:24) To some people, it is nothing less than divine approval of revenge. But such thinking conflicts with Gods command: You must not take vengeance nor hold a grudge against the sons of your people. (Leviticus 19:18) How then, are we to understand those words in Exodus? Exodus 21:22 presents a scenario in which two men are fighting and one of them strikes a pregnant woman, causing her to deliver prematurely. If mother and baby survived, the injured womans husband would not be authorized to strike back. Rather, the man who struck the new mother would have to pay the damages imposed on him by the husband of the woman; and he must pay it through the judges. In other words, the judges in court would make the striker pay a fine to the husband of the injured mother. If she or her child died because of injuries, those same judges would have the perpetrator put to death. In this case, the court, not the victim, applied life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth. . . (Exodus 21:23,24) That principle reminded judges that punishment should be neither excessive nor insufficient. Bible scholar Richard Elliot Friedman states: The basic principle appears to be that punishment should correspond to the crime and never exceed it.(Watchtower sept. 2014 p.8)
Posted on: Fri, 12 Sep 2014 08:15:38 +0000
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